At some point, I predicted Marquis Daniels would make one of five shots. He made one of seven. I was surprised to have been so wrong. It would have been one of five, but he missed two contested layups on the same possession. On offense he’s been pretty futile this season. On defense, there’s a notable difference between him chasing the opposition around screens and other Bucks players. He’s a little smarter, more capable of going over the top of the off ball screens. I wish he could make the Dunleavys and Redicks a little better on defense, so he wouldn’t have to play 15 minutes.

Effective as ever on the glass and on offense. But he wasn’t much of a challenge for Josh Smith on the other end. What can be done though? Ersan has to be out there and he’s probably too small for Al Horford. He missed an important free throw late, and he was one of two Bucks to do so. That was a problem.

Zero technical fouls, so this game was a pretty big success for him for the most part. More seriously, he isn’t getting much help defending Hawks bigs on pick and rolls. He’s helping off on guards, and then Milwaukee’s guards simply chase that part of the play and very rarely does anyone rotate over to help him. I don’t toss all of the blame on him for the nice numbers of the big men he’s been guarding lately.

He had a pretty quiet game until he began to erupt again in the fourth quarter. He banged in threes on three straight possessions, putting the Bucks up five with 2:45 to play. But as crucial as those were, they mattered less when he threw the ball to an unsuspecting JJ Redick with 27 seconds left in a tie game. Redick looked to be coming around a screen, but pulled up a bit short. An important miscommunication.

A night after shooting 1-for-15 in Indiana, Jennings struggled again to find the bottom of the net. He fared better against the Hawks tough backcourt of Jeff Teague and Devin Harris, putting some significant ball pressure on Harris with great success in the first half. But Jennings limitations as a finisher were on display numerous times once again – 2-for-7 inside five feet. He’s absolutely got to figure that out.

10 points for Ekpe Udoh is always a special occasion. Less special? One rebound for Ekpe Udoh. It’s just strange, especially considering he was matched up on Al Horford pretty regularly. It’s not like he was far from the hoop. What gives?

Some uncharacteristically strange moves and a big miss on a wide open 3-pointer that could have gone a long way towards wining this one for the Bucks marred an otherwise typical Redick night. The aforementioned miscommunication with Ellis was damning, but equally as strange was Redick, after a defensive rebound, trying to create like a madmen in traffic in transition after Ellis had just hit two threes. Redick crossed over, lost possession and then had to scramble just to end up in a jump ball. He didn’t have numbers, but he was determined to make something happen with no apparent reason. Fortunately, Milwuakee retained possession, but that was strange.

Jim Boylan

He took credit for Milwaukee’s troubles executing late. On the miscommunication between Ellis and Redick:

“That’s on me. I gotta take responsibility for that and not let those things happen.”

And then on the offensive rebound Milwaukee gave up on a Hawks free throw with 21 seconds remaining:

“Again, little loss of focus at the end there. Again, that’s all on me. I’ve got to make our guys more aware. We’ve got to execute better in the end. That’s my job.”

But really, an offensive rebound allowed on a free throw with 21 seconds to play in what was then a one point game seems like more of an issue with the players. If they can’t dial up the focus at that point, when will it ever happen?

Three Things We Saw

Milwaukee led 97-92 after an Ellis three with 2:45 to play. The rest of the way, the Hawks would outscore them 12-2. The Bucks had five turnovers in 10 possessions the rest of the way. Twice they were fouled, twice they made just one free throw in two attempts. They allowed an offensive rebound on a free throw in a one point game. It was like a clinic on how not to close out a game.

The Bucks have struggled defending Atlanta’s 3-point shooting all season. In the first half, it was more of the same. Atlanta made seven-of-19 threes. But Milwaukee made some adjustments finally in the second half and allowed only seven Hawks 3-point attempts, shutting down the corner threes on the weakside where Atlanta attacked from relentlessly in the first half. But still, Milwaukee lost the larger battle (scoreboard) in the second half, 54-50.

Again and again these teams play and again and again the games are close. But every time, the Hawks are coming out on top. It seems like a bit of good fortune on Atlanta’s part and a bit of poor execution on Milwaukee’s every time. The Hawks regularly take advantage of opportunities the Bucks give them, something the Bucks have been less capable of.

9 Comments

Very frustrating end to an otherwise hard fought game. Was happy to have Ersan back so was feeling optimistic that we just might pull off a win. Bucks seem to be lacking whatever super booster switch other teams turn on to finish games. Players? Coaching? Yikes!

Good thing FGCU played so well again last night. Had something to cheer about after a marathon weekend of watching basketball games. Everyone here in Ft. Myers is pretty excited about our Eagles.

It’s hard to finish games without a true
point guard to direct teammates with the
presence of leadership and to break down defenses
with elite dribbling and passing skills —
as well as being able to finish at the basket
or hit a jumpshot.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier. The celtics are basically asking to be an eighth seed but for some reason the Bucks want to hold onto that title. I think a tank job is in order next year. After we get swept by the Heat, Ellis will probably opt out(meaning Jsmith wont come here), reddick will probably find a contender to go to, and someone will probably offer jennings way more than he is worth. I say trade Illyasova for a future first round and start over. I know lottery picks are always a gamble but the top draft picks next year are almost as sure as one could get. I think Milwaukee could get behind a team that has some young promising players. Hence the hype behind Harris in the summer league…the summer league. If we had a number one or two pick that has franchise potential, I think it could do wonders for morale.

A nice game to listen to on 620am. Really enjoyed the Ted Davis broadcast ( as I always do). A real heartbreaker finish… a Bi-polar special for us fans- BRUTAL. Take nice lead-give it all back -an then some.

5 turnovers in fianl 3 mins. Ouchy…ouch..ouch!

Redick is an awesome shooter-not good idea to have him handling ball
responsibility. He hurt us with turnovers throughout game.